St. Lucia Misses Your 'Touch'

The husband-and-wife synth pop duo are back with the latest single, "Touch," off the second half of their forthcoming new album, Utopia. A nostalgic yacht rock throwback full of bright punchy synths and an infectious bassline, the single sees St. Lucia pine over a primal need for touch and affection from a love you might have already gotten over. With catchy falsetto vocals and an overall upbeat vibe, St. Lucia manages to craft a perfect mid-summer anthem.

“To me, ‘Touch’ feels like all my favorite yacht rock tracks distilled to their essence and sent through the St. Lucia filter," St. Lucia's Jean-Philip Grobler says of the track. "I’ve always felt that a song like this would suit us because we’re so associated with sunshine, it just took a few years to arrive. Thematically, the song is about how even when you’ve broken up with someone you were in a relationship with, you can still desire them, which is a strange but very human predicament to be in. It also speaks to our deep need for human contact after we were so deprived of it for the last few years. So go ahead, tell someone you need their touch.”

The single arrives alongside an equally fun and nostalgic music video directed by Nicole Lipp that puts a queer twist on an 80s classics. Paying homage to films like Risky Business, the music video sees dancer and actor Liv Mai dance around her apartment and pour a bowl of cereal as she fantasizes about an old flame played by LGBTQ+ and autism advocate Canyon Carballosa.

Of the visual, Grobler explains, "It centers around a main character who gets back after a long night with their ex, who they seem to have reconnected with after a love hiatus due to some wrongdoing on the part of their ex. As we see, the ex (now seemingly having transcended the ‘ex’ moniker) has written a note of apology and as the video progresses the reason for the joy of our main character becomes clear: they both experienced a night of pure unadulterated dancing abandonment with pulsating and moving lights (human or machine operated? We may never know). And thus, our main characters need for the ‘touch’ of their ex is satisfied. But was it a fleeting moment or will it last? Only time will tell.”

"Growing up watching all the ‘classics' we were kinda force-fed the idea that only people who look like Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts deserve love," director Nicole Lipp says of the music video. "I wanted to create a visual representation of the complete joy of being in love but in an inclusive way. I hope this video is a sort of reminder that we are ALL deserving of love, we are all deserving of some magical life changing ‘touch.’"

Watch the PAPER premiere of the official musical video St. Lucia's "Touch" below.

Photography: Gabrielle Kannemeyer